. >> so a lot of democrats are saying that no big deal if you go over the fiscal cliff. it seems like republicans are moving towards giving in on the tax rates. might even just vote on the tax portion of the negotiations and kick the rest into january to deal with. if you get a deal on the taxes that president obama seems like he would sign, what happens to the government on the second half of the cliff, the sequester and other extenders? you were at omb. can the government deal with that? can we be okay? >> there's a lot of ifs. republicans don't want to raise taxes on the middle class. they want to pass a bill to prevent increase on rates on the middle class. that would be a good thing. if we got past january 3rd and the sequester went into effect, there are a ways to move through money in accounts where you can buy a few weeks. that's an important thing to do. now don't get me wrong. there would still be a huge impa impact. i don't know what the markets would do. wall street is in a mind if we go past january 3rd, we will fall off the cliff. and secondly, there are pe